The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-12-18

and he showed me 10 docums1s before sub
uniting it TO the Cabinet He told me might
Of bs Ss
had neither time nor inclination for such
tasks He had prepared summary of what he
meant to say in refArd to the negotiations with
England. and this Vas written in . very infor-
NAL style; Lord Clarendon and Mr. Motley were
mentioned frequently BY name. and matters
were discussed in Ifee fashion quite unusual
in documents Of ststs. 20 the composition Of
which the President wns then compIstely un-
used. went to Governor Fish, the Secretary
of State, and told him Of this. the subject be-
not Pet been shown - him, aud he thought as
had been so long the secretary of General Grant
might take the liberty of making intimate
suggestions. In the end. all this matter waa
eliminated, and what mr.. Fish presented was
adopted by General Grant; for he saw al
20 P n nase It WA
ing to conform to the etiquettes of bis place az
scrupulously any of his predecessors. He
appreciated the dignity OF his post, and desired
do nothing TO dstrnct from that dignity; but
coming to the place without ever having held
civil position Of any sort, he nt first iesa
familiar with its forms than perhaps any WIG
have reached the presidency during the present
generation.
The Presidents message, it Ia well known, was
once q speech, hks the inaugural and then
much shorter than it has since become. though
never compact as the speeches from tho
throne abroad. The Queens speech is usually
confined to half q dozen short paragraphs. while
the utterances of aut,cratic sovereigns are silk
more concise The last Emperor of the French
and the Gear of Russia more than once an
sentence at New Year reception Of 1enbsSsa-
doris. and all Europe has been disturbed by the
solitary remark.
Presidents Cleveland has almost rvaled this
effect with his latest message Few utterancef
of the head of . state. At home abroad. have
attracted more attention or excited . more pos
and that of his opponents than the message to
Congress of the present year. In one day it be-
came the absorbing topic of thousand newss
papers, English and French, as we'll Ameri.
can. The Presidents great rival answered him
from Paris. and the lines which parties OF
this continent must move for year to come
were at once defined. One man may still pos~
sess great influence in . democracy.
In another matter the President Is proving
himself more powerful than the Queen of En<
gland He can not only say what he chooses,
but he can choose his advisers The Queen
must accept the Prime Minister whom the Come
mons prefer, and the Premier selects his cole
leagues; but no one dreams of interfering with
the President whom he promotes Mr.. Villas and
calls in Mr.. Dickinson; even . Republican Sem
President IN France has ten times tho trouble OF
our American potentate; he had to threaten to
resign before ne could secure Cabinet; and az
We have within Q month, he can be over
turned himself by an adverse majority in thI.
legislature. Grovy was Geposed without diff
Guilty, but both houses of Congress combined
were unable to oust Andrew johnson. Our
President sports none of the trappings Of roys
atty, but he Possesses more OF the genuine attri~
butes that kings have arrogated to themselves
than half tbs monarchs of Europe to-day; and
he is more secure in his position during his terno
plenty Of statesmen ready to succeed him and to
than any President, or Gar, or Emperor
Of them all No wonder there are assume
Ill the and responsibilities of theexecutive.
The character Of Mrs. John Jacob Astor han
been very generally and correctly described
zines her death last week. Her many excel.
encies and eraces, her accomplish ments and
charities, have boon chroniced as they deserved.
Int there il one trait worthy to be recalled andl
not perhaps we'll known-that il her courage.
She was the first woman of position in New
z ork to offer q flag to colored regiment Early
n the war. before the public sentiment on tho
ubject was by any means general, she stood on
he steps Of her house on Fifth avenue, whey
,alf of her fashionable friends opposed heH
course. and handed tho colors which she had
prepared to negro soldiers.
Years afterwsrd wrote q military WORN
which contained some structures a prominenft
Older who was her cousin by marriage, and
ent her q copy. In her note of acknowledge
nent she especially approved my frankness in
Ittering what deemed important historical
ruth. matter who might be offended; and
he took painsby speedy courresies to make mo
now that thetruth about her relative had noS
fended her. ADAM BADEAU.